Lyric Stage Company of Boston to Open STONES IN HIS POCKETS, 2/15

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents STONES IN HIS POCKETS by Marie Jones, featuring Daniel Berger-Jones and Phil Tayler, running February 15 - March 16, 2013.

Stones in His Pockets is the hilarious and poignant story of a rural Irish village turned upside down by the arrival of an American film crew. When Charlie and Jake are cast as extras in the movie, they discover that Hollywood's romanticized Ireland stands in stark contrast to the reality of their daily lives. Winner of the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, the play features two actors taking on more than a dozen eccentric characters, from the film's spoiled American starlet to the star-struck locals. Stones in His Pockets ran for more than three years in London's West End and was nominated for three Tony Awards.

CREATIVE TEAM:

Directed by Courtney O'Connor
Scenic Design, Matthew Whiton
Costume Design, Elizabetta Polito
Lighting Design, Margo Cadell
Sound Design, Brendan Doyle
Production Stage Manager, Nerys Powell*
Assistant Stage Manager, Sarah Morrison

The production will run February 15 - Marcy 16, 2013, playing Wednesdays, Thursdays - 7:30pm; Wednesday matinees - 2pm, February 20, March 13; Fridays - 8pm; Saturdays - 3pm & 8pm; and Sundays - 3pm.

Post-show talkbacks: Sundays, February 17, March 3 after 3pm performance. Press opening: Sunday, February 17, 3pm. VIP opening: Wednesday, February 20, 7:30pm (post-show reception with cast and crew - open to all ticket holders).

All performances take place at The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, Mass. Tickets: $25 - $58; Seniors - $5 off regular price; Student rush - $10. Group rates available. Box Office: 617-585-5678 or lyricstage.com.

Daniel Berger-Jones* (Charlie Conlon) was last seen at The Lyric Stage in Nicholas Nickleby as the bustling John Browdie and the tragic Lord Verisopht. Prior to that, he graced this stage on his knees as Bruno the Dog and Queen Victoria in Shipwrecked! As a founding member of Orfeo Group, he appeared in all of their productions from Marisol in 2007 to the final production of Love Song in 2011, with a notable favorite as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger. Other favorite roles include being a member of the Elliot Norton Award-winning ensemble of Hotel Nepenthe with Actors' Shakepeare Project, Bradley in Company One's Mr. Marmalade, Jaap in Speakeasy/BPT/Forty Magnolia's Wrestling Patient, and Dr. Samuel Prescott with the Freedom Trail Foundation. He currently owns and operates a brand new tour company in Harvard Square. If you've seen the top hats and bonnets in the Square, you already know the work of Cambridge Historical Tours, his boldest endeavor yet. Running Ghost Tours, Pub Crawls, Historical Tours, and imminently Museum Tours, the company blends history with performance to engage scholars and restless TV addicts alike. Please visit the website at www.oldcambridge.org to see his proudest achievement.

Phil Tayler* (Jake Quinn) returns once again to The Lyric Stage having appeared as Trekkie Monster, Nicky, and Boy Bear in last spring's Avenue Q (W.I.S.E. Award outstanding performer of the year). Phil joins the production following a successful run of Marry Me a Little at the New Repertory Theatre. This summer you may have seen Phil as Berger in Hair with the New London Barn Playhouse (NH Theatre Award Nomination), or as Tateh in Ragtime with Marblehead Little Theatre and Salem Theatre Company. Other Boston Area companies Phil has worked with include: Whistler in the Dark, Stoneham Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Nora Theatre Company, Fiddlehead Theatre, Turtle Lane Playhouse, The Orfeo Group and The Boston Conservatory. Outside Boston, Phil has been seen on stages from the backwoods of Maine (Quisisana Resort) to the rolling hills of Kansas (Theatre in the Park, KC Starlight, MTYP, Lewis and Shirley White Theatre) and even the Rocky Mountains of Colorado (The Arvada Center). Directing credits include: Tracy Lett's Killer Joe, and John Patrick Shanley's Dirty Story (The Boston Conservatory). Television: MTV 2's High School Stories - "Sticky Situation." Phil can also be seen in Douglas Farwell Productions commercial "One Liner" for Hooker Beer based in CT. Look for Phil in his next production, On the Town here at The Lyric Stage in May.

Courtney O'Connor (Director) returns to The Lyric Stage she most recently was the Associate Director on the Elliot Norton Award-winning production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. She has also directed The Lyric Stage productions of Red Herring and The Miracle Worker. Favorite productions include: Much Ado about Nothing, Two Gentlemen of Verona (Commonwealth Shakespeare Intern Company); Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Now!); My Heart and My Flesh, The House of Yes, Sin, This is Our Youth (Coyote Theatre); Be a Good Little Widow (AIM Stage); Blue Window (Brandeis University); Robin Hood, Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Long Christmas Dinner and The Pullman Car Hiawatha, Picnic, The Women, Holiday (Emerson Stage.) Courtney is an adjunct faculty member of Emerson College where she teaches directing and Playwriting with Youth, a service-learning course that connects Emerson students with 4th- and 5th-grade students, teaching them the fundamentals of playwriting. Through her work with the class, she has overseen the creation of over 200 new 10-minute plays written by youth from Boston. She is also General Manager of Abella Publishing Services. Courtney holds a B.A. in English from Cabrini College and an M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College.

Marie Jones (Playwright) was born in Belfast, and was writer-in-residence there for Charabanc Theatre Company from 1983 to 1990. Plays written for Charabanc include Lay up Your Ends (co-written with Martin Lynch); Oul Delph and False Teeth; Now You're Talking; Girls in the Big Picture; Somewhere over the Balcony; The Hamster Wheel (published in The Crack in the Emerald: NHB); The Terrible Twins' Crazy Christmas; The Blind Fiddler of Glenadauch; Weddins, Weeins and Wakes and Gold in the Streets. Marie has written several plays for Replay Productions and DubbelJoint Theatre Company. Plays for Replay include Under Napoleon's Nose; Hiring Days; Don't Look Down; Yours Truly; The Cow, the Ship and the Indian, and It's a Waste of Time Tracy. For DubbelJoint, plays include Hang All the Harpers co-written with Shane Connaughton); The Government Inspector adaptation); A Night in November; Women on the Verge of HRT, and Stones in His Pockets. The last two went on to enjoy successful runs in the West End of London. Her most recent plays are Women on the Verge Get a Life, which toured the UK, and Ruby, which opened in Belfast in 2000, about the life of the singer Ruby Murray.
Marie has also written various pieces for both TV and radio and is the recipient of the John Hewitt Award for Contribution to Cutural Traditions.

Stone in His Pockets won the Irish Times/ESB Award for best production of 1999. In London it won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

Photo Credit: Timothy Dunn

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